Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 3:30 p.m., will be The Villages 19th annual Oktoberfest parade.
Thanks to the Resident’s Parade Committee which partners with the Recreation Department we are able to present this parade once again. This is already the third Oktoberfest directly under resident’s organization and direction
The original Oktoberfest, started in 1810 in Munich Germany, has grown to last 16 or 17 days and attracts 6 million visitors who consume almost 8 million liters of beer. We Villagers are not that prodigious but we work on our share LOL!
Across America today almost 50 million claim some German heritage, making it, at 17%, the single largest reported ancestry in America. German names proudly echo in the halls of our history, Eisenhower and Hoover, Ruth and Gehrig, Custer and Nimitz, Heinz, Disney, Rockefeller, Boeing, Westinghouse and Strauss, to Gates and Jobs, all are of German ancestry. On the culinary side, frankfurters, weiners, hamburgers, bratwurst, sauerkraut and pretzels are all now, All-American. Everyone knows of the Anheusers and Busch, Millers, Pabst, Schlitz, Schmidts and todays favorite, America’s oldest beer since 1829, Yeungling, as hallowed names of American beer.
Which brings us back to this year’s spectacular Oktoberfest parade with 30+ parading units on display and 800 some people marching to again present their German heritage and share it with their fellow Villagers.
So come out, stand and cheer for your neighbors who volunteer to entertain you and then sit down with friends of good cheer and maybe enjoy some bratwurst and bier.
Oktoberfest is here! See you Tuesday the 20th.
Jim Buchhofer is a member of the Resident Parade Committee.
